


Welcome to Slytherin House

by weirdo_in_disguise



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, I know they weren't in the same year, I was sorted into Slytherin, Just in case you couldn't tell, and am putting it to good use, but for dramatic purposes, i dusted off my creative license
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 15:03:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11488875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weirdo_in_disguise/pseuds/weirdo_in_disguise
Summary: Hogwarts decides to remind Slytherin House what they really are.





	Welcome to Slytherin House

**Author's Note:**

> So, I was sorted into Slytherin the first time I took the test on Pottermore. 
> 
> I'd been told that this was the absolute worst house to be sorted into, and honestly, I was crushed. So, naturally, I retook the test another two times until I was sorted into Gryffindor. 
> 
> And recently having come to enjoy my Slytherin status, I thought back on what I felt the first three times I was sorted, and I realised that in Hogwarts, they couldn't change that. 
> 
> So I figured, that instead of giving in to my urge to write a fic and bash everyone to Hades, I'll write this instead. I'm still not entirely sure what this is, but eh, oh well. I like it.

Awed gazes searched for yet another wondrous thing to lay eyes on. Newly acquainted friends chattered excitedly but quietly as they filed into the cavernous room, led by a striking witch with a stern look on her face, who soon introduced herself as Transfigurations Professor, Minerva McGonagall. 

Anything and everything captured the attention of the eleven year olds who were finally,  _finally,_ attending the famed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

Young Ruby Edinburgh couldn't help but let her mind wander as she took in even more of the sights. 

The long table, at the front of the room, high above the others, at which sat a man in bright purple robes, who sported a long beard. She thought he looked ridiculous, but nice enough. The twinkly eyes were a bit irritating, though she wasn't sure why. 

Next to him, sat a man dressed all in black. He had long hair, black of course, and a Roman nose. He looked harsher than all of the Professors put together. Ruby thought he looked like he needed either a hug or some very strong vodka. She supposed he couldn't be all bad, though, because the table at the end kept shooting adoring glances in his direction. At long intervals anyway. It didn't hurt that her uncle Edmund often looked like that too. 

So engrossed was she in her musings, that she missed quite a bit of the Sorting Hat's song, only catching a part about Gryffindors, chivalrous and carefree, and Slytherins, pure-blooded and power-hungry. 

She worried then, because what would they think of her, the muggleborn who didn't want the world in her hands? 

"Amaretto, Isabel!"

With a jolt, she realised that the Sorting had begun. 

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Ruby watched the girl skip over to her table with the kids who were all waving at her and cheers rose. 

"Avano, Price!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Even while watching the other students happily drop into their seats to the applause of everyone in the hall, Ruby found herself fretting, and fretting even more when she realised that she'd zoned out and heard, 

"Eckles, Damien!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

She noted that at this, not only cheers and applause, but whistling and laughter broke out as well. She didn't have time to dwell though, because suddenly, 

"Edinburgh, Ruby!"

And she was sitting on the stool and McGonagall was putting the Hat on her head and then, silence. 

_Why, hullo there!_

_"You're in my head?"_

_Only for a little while._

_"And without my permission first?"_

_Well, ye-_

_"That simply won't do Mr. Hat."_

_It will have to, you need to be sorted._

_"If you tell me how you're in my head."_

_Whyever would I do that?_

_"It could come in handy sometime. Plus, what if next time it's someone who I don't_ want  _in my head? Is it possible to turn this against the person in your head? If I used it get information, would it be possible for the information to be false?"_

_It's called Legilimency, and that kind of curiosity would have gotten you into Ravenclaw, but you see beyond the want to know. Instead of seeing information, you see possibilities, and a way to work this to your advantage, and for that I say, better be-_

"SLYTHERIN!"

After what she'd heard, Ruby wasn't expecting the thunderous applause the Gryffindors got. She wasn't expecting almost dead silence, either. Broken by only the polite clapping of the Slytherins. And then came the boos. The boos aimed at the eleven year old girl who saw that she could use some information to her advantage in the future. Who saw how she could use it to better herself. 

Still, Ruby held her head high and strolled over to the table at the far end, with the aristocratic-looking students with the green and silver striped ties and sat. She would not let them have the satisfaction of seeing her upset. And with that, she shook her head lightly, long, dark curls bouncing off tanned skin and blinked the tears out of her dark eyes to finish observing the sorting. By the time Xavier Zara had been sorted into Slytherin, seven others had joined her at the table. 

The final straw, however, came when Dumbledore stood to speak and mentioned the Forbidden Forest and the dark creatures within and three-quarters of the school burst into laughter at one Gryffindor's very loud, "Cough, cough, Slytherins during detention, cough, cough."

The angered reaction to this didn't come from the students. Nor did it come from their Head of House. Instead one of the portraits of the Four Founders mounted above the Head Table stirred to life and began to speak in a voice cold enough to freeze an erupting volcano. 

"How dare you?  _How dare you?_ What have my children done to you, that you torment and whisper about them at every turn? Tell me. What is it that they have done?"

Salazar Slytherin, from his place between Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff had cast a glare around the room that had quite a few of its occupants shivering. 

"Well?"

"They're dark!"

"They're rude and uptight!"

"They're arrogant."

The portrait cast its eyes upon the table of children he considered his, catching their Head in his gaze as well. 

"What have you to say to this? Do they know this through personal interaction, or mere word of mouth?"

"Sir, they avoid us. We can't interact with them if they don't let us."

Yet again, looking toward the rest of the school. 

"All magic can be considered dark. It is the intent with which one uses it that makes the difference. I would be rude and uptight as well, if I were forced to spend time with those who consider me evil and horrid. And can they be blamed for appreciating their talents, since it is obvious that you all do not?"

Throughout the statements, the portrait had begun to freeze in between sentences. 

"I must return the magic to the castle, but before I do so, observe, especially you, my children."

And as the portrait returned to its former dormant state, the Great Hall wavered and stretched, until they were all left standing disoriented in the Slytherin common room. 

They could speak to each other, but not to the sea of First through Sixth Years that stood staring at the landing at the top of a pair of staircases, for they could not acknowledge them. It was like a Pensieve memory in that regard. 

Someone cleared their throat at the top of the landing and all sound ceased. After all, when Bellatrix Black wanted your attention, you gave it. 

"For those of you who don't know, I am Bellatrix Black, one of the Seventh Years who will be delivering a message to you tonight. So you've been sorted into Slytherin, have you? I'm going to take a wild guess at few things that happened tonight. The first thing anyone said to you regarding our House went along the lines of, "There was never a witch or wizard who went there and didn't come out bad." or "You-Know-Who went there, you know." The pretty girl you were talking to, or the nice boy, got sorted into Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw or Gryffindor and they wouldn't catch your eye when the Hat called Slytherin. And when you walked to your seat, whispers and jeers followed you like a lost puppy, yeah?"

At the mumbled assent she got, her eyes hardened. 

"Yeah, well, get used to it."

The boy who'd at some point wrapped his arms around her, put his chin on her shoulder and practically spat out his words. 

"While here, you will be discriminated against, despised, mocked and prejudiced against by student and teacher alike, isn't that right, Rabastan?"

An identical looking boy, perched himself on the short barrier preventing them from falling. 

"Disgustingly so, Rodolphus. Someone will find something to critique, something to laugh at, something to judge. They will humiliate you, push you farther and farther to the edge, and the teachers will laugh and say, it was all in good fun. Good fun that results in more points to the other Houses and detention for us."

"You will find yourself alone, isolated and ostracised and it's now that I ask you, remember that we are family, because you might not have chosen to come here, but you also haven't chosen to leave. And that is something in and of itself. The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb and it would do you well to be mindful of that because now? Now, even your precious siblings will avoid you like the plague. Just a by the way, my name, is Regulus Black."

"I am Narcissa Black, and I cannot stress just how important this is. When you protect your Housemates from ridicule, do it with your head held high, because infighting will do nothing for us. We fight for each other because no one fights for us. After all, united we stand, head and shoulders above the jealousy and envy and divided we fall, except Slytherin will  _never_ fall because we are cunning and we are ambitious and we are strong."

"We are strong, because we realise that proud does not equal arrogant, strong-willed does not mean unwilling and Slytherin does not equal dark. We are strong because we know where our strengths lie and are not afraid to utilise them. We are strong because we understand that trust is only to be placed where it has been earned and where it has been earned twice. They call us heartless, but it's only because they don't know, and don't understand and they will never know because they don't deserve to."

"Well said, Lucius."

"Thank you, Evan."

"And so, we will make them regret it. We will get up and prove ourselves over and over and over again, not to them but to each other. You are here, not because your blood is pure and certainly not because you are dark. You are here, because you see farther than what's right in front of you, farther than what affects only you friends and family and farther than what you can read in a book. You see _possibilities_. And believe me, if there is no possibility, you will create one. And if one of those possibilities happens to be going dark? If the only thing you hear me say tonight is this, then remember this. _Facilis descensus averno, sed pretiam nullam_. The descent into hell is easy, but it offers no reward." 

Evan stepped back, allowing the last to speak to take his place, leaning against the barrier. 

"Some of you may already know me. I am Severus Snape. Now, listen carefully. Alongside those who show you blatant hatred, there will be those who will hide under the guise of friendship, only to destroy you in the end. Should this happen, pull yourself together and realise that it likely wasn't worth it in the first place. Don't just sit around waiting on a platter for some sort of goodwill to come to you, because it will not work. Don't watch the Gryffindors or the Hufflepuffs or the Ravenclaws and wish you could be like that. Make it happen. You have the motivation, and you have the means."

Now, it would, of course, be remiss of us not to pass on some...advice, we'll call it, to you all. Different rules apply, because we play a different game. Eyes will always be on us because of who we are and what we represent. Should it come to the point where you need some...inspiration to continue in such a situation, because it can and likely will be difficult, it would do you well to remember these."

Firstly, seeing as we need to present ourselves as a force to be reckoned with, _"Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo,_ " which loosely translates to, "If I cannot move Heaven, I will raise Hell." 

Secondly, to remind us that no victory comes easy, " _Per aspera, ad astra,_ " the meaning of which is, "Through hardships, the stars."

Third, a phrase which I find quite fitting. " _Oderint dum metuant._ " It means, "Let them hate, so long as they fear," and seeing as we are not respected...fear is the only way to protect ourselves and each other, seeing as neither the Headmaster nor Professors see fit to do so. And of course, fear comes at a price, and it is unfortunately one that is extremely high."

And of course, the final one, which I believe is quite self-explanatory, "Fortune can favour the brave all she likes, but here, we make our own luck."

That said, the speakers stepped into a line, and the boys bowed while the girls dropped into curtseys, according to the pureblood etiquette towards one you respect. 

As they rose, the group spoke in unison. 

"Welcome to Slytherin House. May we help you on your way to greatness."

* * *

And just like that, they were back in the Great Hall, awkwardly waiting for the silence to be broken. 

Some students were in awe, others perplexed and yet still, others were in disbelief. 

Ruby noticed that quite a few of her Housemates, like she herself, were trembling. A few looked as though they would cry and all the rest were looking far better than they had all night, struggling to keep their lips from curving into astonished smiles, and heads held higher than ever before. They looked... _proud._ And  _not_ in a bad way. 

She turned towards the Head Table, searching for her new Head of House, who she now recognised as Severus Snape, and found that the man had seemingly disappeared into thin air. However, someone else caught her eye. 

Dumbledore, lips pressed into a thin line, but eyes still twinkling, ignored the rest of the announcements he'd had to make. 

He stood up, pronounced that it was time to eat and that was that. 

**Author's Note:**

> I may do a second part, of everyone's reactions and whatnot. I'd write it now, but its currently 5:18 a.m. and I should have gone to sleep ages ago.
> 
> PS- I don't own Harry Potter.  
> PPS - All mistakes are my own.  
> PPPS - 10/8/17 Edit- I was looking at tattoos and found some Latin phrases that I thought were amazing for this. So I adjusted the end of the speech and bam! Words of wisdom received!


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